Mr Abbott said in a statement that the company will look forward to putting its case forward.

“We look forward to a planning inspector considering at a public inquiry our appeal against the refusal in November 2018 of our revised development proposals for the Wressle oil field,” he said.

“We strongly believe that the new proposals for the development of the Wressle oil field comprehensively addressed the reasons highlighted by the planning inspector in his dismissal of our original appeals in January 2018.

“This position was supported by the recommendation for approval given by the council’s planning officer as reinforced by an expert third party review undertaken on behalf of the council.”

A date for the public inquiry will now be set by the government’s Planning Inspectorate.